Already behind and haven’t really started…

I think back to last year at this time and I was so ahead of the game. Tree was up, as well as all holiday decor. All the gifts were bought and wrapped. All the Christmas cards were done and addressed, stamped and ready to go.
This year I do have some holiday decor up but no tree yet. That was suppose to be done Friday night, then Saturday night, then tonight (yeah, not happening somehow we got the tree up, I think this post nudged me a little to do it). I have one gift bought. I think I have wrapping paper somewhere. Christmas cards? Not purchased. Have no idea where my address book is (it’s been missing for months). Stamps? Do I even have those?
Sigh.
To top it off I have 9 holiday parties I have been invited to. Five of which of course are on the same night. 🙁 Boo. I hate to tell people no, I don’t want them to think we don’t want to come. But I have done the spreading yourself thin and go to all five party thing before and it is no fun. You don’t get to enjoy any of the parties because you are too busy starring at your watch to make sure you have enough time to get to the next one. So this year I have told myself, no more than two parties in a day.
Most of these are potlucks of some sort. Which means I am frantically trying to figure out what I want to make. I always over analyze what to make. I also tend to bring more than the average person. I need to work on that habit. Especially with all the food based parties we are going to this season.
One of my parties is a progressive dinner party. I’ll be going to that one as I am the co-host for the dessert portion of the meal (surprise…I’m doing dessert!). So I have been working on desserts to see what I want to serve for the party. I want to make one chocolate based dessert and “other”.
This falls into the other category. Orange says holiday to me. Not really sure why though it could have to do with those chocolate oranges that you have to crack open and it breaks into segments. We especially enjoyed opening them by smashing them on each other’s heads. Ah, siblings, if it were not for them who would torture us and vice versa? 😛 So when I saw this caramel pecan tart I decided it needed to be a orange caramel pecan tart. So glad I did, it went so nicely with it.

Coat a 9” tart pan with removable bottom with nonstick spray; line baking sheet with foil. (I used 4 3-inch diameter tart pans instead).
Cream together butter and sugar for the dough in a bowl with a mixer until light. Add egg yolk and vanilla, beat until combined, then add flour, salt, and zest.
Mix just until dough forms.
Press dough evenly into tart pan, trimming excess from the edges. Chill until firm, 30 minutes; preheat oven to 350F.
Place tart on prepared sheet and bake until crust is dry to the touch but hasn’t begun to brown, 12-14 minutes. Remove from oven (leave oven on) and cool slightly.

Yikes… I don’t know how I would’ve handled that. If I’d said “but, I’m already going to 2 parties!” They might be even more offended that they weren’t one of the two, or you couldn’t make more time. Sigh. Well, I only have 2 groups of friends + family, so it’ll be a while before I have to think of such things 🙂
It’ll sure be one lucky party that gets served these lovely tarts!

Yummy! The flavor combination must have been heavenly! Beautiful minis!
Bummer about the parties though… next year, YOU should throw the party! LOL What a great excuse not to have to choose between the too numerous ones you’re invited to, no? LOL
Didn’t you ever poke cloves in oranges for Christmas decorations and divine aromas around the tree (that’s why oranges spell Christmas for me anyways)? Hummm… I guess the banging of the chocolate oranges on your sibblings head was way more fun, huh? I wish I had thought of that one for my bros! LOL LOL

oh these look to die for! i have been wanting to make pecan pies for ages and have never made it… this might just be the right recipe (i know i can always trust yours!!!) a bit late for thanksgiving, maybe, but who cares!!!

Mmm…those look yummy. And I’m not a big pecan pie fan. I’m behind too. And I’ve decided I’m okay with it. I usually have my tree up by now but my back feels like it’s been stepped on by 3 overweight elephants so I think maybe this just isn’t the time. We’ll make there somehow!

How I love pecan! I might see these with a coffee liqueur – would you be ok with that as orange just doesn’t usually do it for me. That’s odd I guess because I really associate orange with Christmas too. Getting an orange in a stocking was a good thing when I was growing up.
Happy partying!

NINE parties? Dang, girl. You are quite the social diva. As far as holiday decor goes, we never put up anything until 2 weeks before Christmas Day, so you’re ahead of me. And I don’t even need to tell you those pecan tarts are amazing, right? Orange AND caramel? Oh, my.

I actually don’t have much to do for xmas because we don’t really celebrate it (we just ski our asses off), and yet I am behind on what little I have planned! Those tarts are adorable. I’m amazed that you got 9 (or now 10?) party invites. None of our local friends cook let alone entertain… and I’m personally a leeeetle tired of being the only one who does. Pet the pup and bunny for me 🙂

Glad to see I’m not the only one feeling behind already. We bought our Christmas cards for this year even before last years holiday…but we don’t have stamps yet, we haven’t printed out the addresses and our next free night to do so is over a week away. Considering we send out over 250 cards, this takes DAYS to do!

At least you are well loved and in demand, right? 😉 Those tarts sound great – orange sounds like the Holidays to me too though, but it is because I remember back in the day when we would stud little clementines with cloves and ribbon them and hang them on our tree. I am hoping to reinstate the tradition this year, but we’ll see.

I’m crazy about orange and pecans together – these tarts look very moreish, Pea.
I haven’t been able to get into holiday feeling just yet. I sometimes feel a bit blue at this time of the year. But ever since I started blogging you and the other blogging friends I have made have really brought a special meaning to it.

Love the pecan tarts! They look delicious. If it makes you feel any better, here it is December 4th, I have no cards bought, no tree yet and all decorations are in storage. I’ve got lots to do this weekend! Love your photos! Have fun at your parties!

Hello Friend,
Maybe you have heard this before BUT reading your blog made me feel like I was reading
my sister Shelly’s e-mail!! You two are kindred spirits. I will be using this recipe at my daughters baby shower! I have been looking for something small and this my dear WINS!!

Hi,
Just wanted to let you know I found this on Pinterest and actually made them as an extra dessert for Cdn thanksgiving.
As I was putting the dough together, I thought, there is no way this is turning out, but I have to say, what a delicious orange tart bottom – to die for! I will for sure be making this dough again for multiple uses.
The caramel filling was very hard once chilled, almost like taffe. They must be reheated before serving otherwise you will break your teeth. Delicious however, once softened.
Your recipe is a keeper!!

I have literally had 2 slices of this pie, as haas my husband and wow. I did alter the orange flavouring as I’m not a fan of fruit flavoured anything. I had trouble with my base, could not roll it out, so in frustration created a patchwork base. To my utter surprise, it worked! Now in the uk we don’t have corn syrup however I used golden syrup. Apart from the it was surprisingly easy to make. It didn’t go too hard, but all the gooyness worked for us. I will definitely do this for Christmas! Thank you for posting this recipe.

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Hi I’m Peabody (yep, that’s my first name) and welcome to my site! Here you will find a whole lot of yummy recipes (mostly baking and dessert), positive body image promotion, telling it like it is, and the random things that make up my life. Thanks for stopping by! Read more...